Tryst in Wave
by Small Fox
Summary: Konohamaru and his team travel to the Land of Wave for a month-long mission. However, once there Konohamaru meets an old friend of Naruto and thoughts of fighting off bandits is suddenly less interesting. Yaoi KonoInari
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Author's note: Just to make sure everyone understands this is yaoi and there will eventually be descriptions of sex.

* * *

Being dumped right before a month-long mission really sucked, thought Konohamaru. In theory it should actually be the best time to be dumped. After all, you wouldn't accidentally run into your ex and have one of those awkward moments until you are thoroughly over each other. In a village as small as Konoha was that was too possible. Of course, when you had two teammates that were dating it could be frustrating.

"Would you two knock it off," Konohamaru snapped.

There was a moment of silence before Udon stuttered out, "But we're just holding hands and you're ahead of us."

"It's unprofessional." He spoke with authority he didn't possess, "We are going to be meeting with the client soon and."

"Knock it off Konohamaru," Moegi interrupted, "You're just still sore that your boyfriend broke up with you."

The young Chunin felt his cheeks flush, both because it was true and because his friend had just announced to anyone in hearing range that he was gay. Granted, the road was abandoned but still, it was something he didn't like others announcing. He felt someone grab his elbow, and when he turned around, he was staring directly into Moegi's eyes. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

Konohamaru blinked and then felt ashamed as her words sunk in. Senichi and he had not been in a serious relationship, especially compared to his two friends. Looking at it now, he could really only see two good traits in the boy. First, he had been good looking and second, at fifteen he had only been one year older than him. Konoha didn't have a large population of potential dating partners so they had gravitated towards each other more out of convenience than anything else.

"Go back to making out," Konohamaru said in way of apology.

"We were just holding hands," Udon protested again.

The unofficial leader of the team picked up his pace trying to give his two friends a little privacy but soon his thoughts were brought back to Senichi. Really, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if he had even liked him that much. Sure, he had a passing resemblance to Naruto with his hair color and his overall attitude but where Naruto legitimately cared about others, Senichi had been a narcissist.

At least that was how Udon had described him after first meeting him. Moegi had been a bit more subtle saying, "If you like him." Later, he had looked up what a narcissist was and now could agree with Udon's opinion. The former honorable grandson finally admitted to himself that maybe he had just liked the idea of having someone more than the person himself. Not that it improved his mood.

The trio continued on in a silence that could only be sustained by friends comfortable enough with each other to not talk. The small path that they were on merged with a larger one that was more crowded. Then, they were at the bridge to the Land of Waves and all three paused at the sign that hung above it. Udon was the one who broke the silence with the thought they were all thinking. "You know I always thought he was stretching the truth when he told us about the name."

Before either of the other two could respond, a voice spoke up from behind them, "Hey, I'll have you know we named it the Great Naruto Bridge long before he became famous."

They turned to face the voice and before Konohamaru could speak, his throat went dry. The voice belonged to a teen probably the same age they were. He was maybe an inch shorter than Konohamaru but had broader shoulders. Judging by his calf muscles, he was strong.

He didn't seem to be in a uniform but had a Naginata which he was leaning on like a staff. He smiled gently, not showing any teeth. "So you are the help from Konohagakure," the comment was flippant, but it lacked hostility.

There was a moment of silence as Konohamaru's team expected him to take the lead, but after a moment Moegi stepped forward, "Yeah, we are."

The teenager waved her off, "Let me guess. You're Moegi," he said pointing to her, "Then you're Udon," he said addressing the other boy, "And that would make you Konohamaru, right? Naruto wrote to me about you. He said you three were among the best."

"So you're Inari then," Moegi said blushing at the praise.

He was about to respond when Konohamaru spoke up for the first time, "We are the best." The teen then mentally kicked himself as he realized that the boast, while true, was a bit off in the conversation. Why was this cute boy throwing him off? He really wasn't all that special.

Inari had been smiling since they had met and glossed over the awkward moment with a comment that was directed at him alone, "You're a lot like him." Konohamaru felt his cheeks warm at that but thankfully no one seemed to have noticed. Inari, who seemed to take Moegi as their leader, was addressing his next question to her. "I can either take you right to the briefing or show you to your hotel rooms."

"Rooms?" Moegi's question nudged Konohamaru for his opinion.

"Yeah that sounds good," he agreed not really thinking about it.

"Follow me then," the teen with the fish hat said walking past them and onto the bridge. After a minute, he called over his shoulder, "Do you know the history of this bridge?"

Udon spoke up for the first time, "Yeah, Naruto likes to tell the story about his first real battle."

"Are you that Inari?" Moegi questioned.

Surprisingly, the teen laughed nervously, "If you're asking if I was the kid with a crossbow then yes."

As soon as they reached the other side of the bridge they entered into the shopping district which was crowded. There were so many people that at times Konohamaru lost sight of their guide and was only able to keep track of him by the gleaming blade that poked above the crowd which functioned as a convenient beacon. The crowd thinned slowly and then they came to a sudden stop.

Inari gestured to the wooden building, "The Sea View Inn." He paused for a second and looked across the street where there was another series of buildings, "Not the most accurate name."

Their guide led them inside and Konohamaru instinctively took in his surroundings. He had been to dozens of Inns like this over his short career. They were all different and yet they were all the same. The only notable feature in this one was how young the clerk was. She was probably a little younger than they were.

Looking up from a magazine she was reading she smiled and said, "Hi Inari. Are these the special guests?"

Their guide said, "Yes Akemi. Can you give them the keys, I can show them to their rooms."

The former honorable grandson smiled at the other's discomfort. It was obvious that the girl was interested in their new acquaintance and it was equally obvious that he was not interested. The girl tossed two keys to himself and Moegi without taking her eyes off of Inari.

"Rooms eleven and twelve. They're on the second floor at the end of the hallway. They're both twins. You can find them on your own, right?"

"No problem," he said it without thinking and bounded up the stairs closely followed by his two friends. Reaching the end of the hall, he looked down at his key to see a number twelve engraved on it.

The room was pretty much what he was expecting. Longer than wide with a small closet right behind the door followed by a bathroom and then the two beds. There was also a small couch that could seat two with a table and two chairs nearby.

"Nice," Udon commented.

Konohamaru hadn't noticed that his friend had followed him into the room. Tossing his pack onto one of the beds, he said as innocently as he could, "I thought you would want to be with Moegi."

His friends face reddened and he wouldn't have been surprised if his glasses had fogged up, as Udon pushed past him to get to the other bed, "We don't do that."

"Do what? Spend time together? Have long talks into the night?" Konohamaru always found it funny that when Udon was embarrassed that even the back of his neck turned red.

"We've made out, but that's about it. How far would you like to go with that Inari boy you're so hot for?" Moegi spoke up from behind him.

This time it was Konohamaru who blushed as he turned to face his other teammate. She had entered the room silently as neither of the boys had bothered to close the door. "What are you talking about?"

His female teammate rolled her eyes, "You know who. The boy you were ogling not five minutes ago."

He cringed, wondering if he had been that obvious, "I was just looking." There was little point in denying it, although he wanted to.

She smiled, "Are you going to ask him out?"

"No," Konohamaru responded instantly.

"Why not? You would make a cute couple."

He rolled his eyes as if it was that easy. "First, I'm going to be here a month, and second, I don't know if he's interested. It's not like I'm asking a girl, you know, he might get mad and if we have to work together it would be awkward."

"Oh come on, nothing ventured nothing gained." She grinned slyly, "Were you this hesitant when you asked out Senichi? Because I have to say this one is definitely an improvement, he walks upright."

Konohamaru felt his lips start to turn up in a smile, but answered firmly, "It's not happening."

"Guys, shouldn't we get going," Udon interrupted. "Remember the briefing?" He flinched as both of his teammates glanced at him, one annoyed and the other grateful.

* * *

The building that Inari led them to after they left the hotel had a small sign next to the door. It said headquarters of the National Guard for Wave Country. "What's the National Guard?" Konohamaru asked rolling the unfamiliar words around in his mouth.

"Well, were kind of a lot of things. We're sort of the police, but at the same time were responsible for maintaining and building public works within the country. The organization is less than two years old."

"Why did you join Inari?" Moegi questioned.

"Well, I had been watching my grandfather build things since The Great Naruto Bridge and I was his apprentice for a long time. We even went to Konohagakure to help rebuild it. Not long after that, my grandfather told me that there wasn't much more he could teach me and I just needed experience. The guard was recruiting, so I joined up."

"But doesn't that mean you have to do police stuff too?" Konohamaru asked.

Inari shrugged as he led them down an empty hallway, "I don't mind. To be honest, I kind of like helping people like that." He stopped at the door and knocked before saying, "Capt. Kuroda, the ninjas from Konohagakure are here."

There was a moment of silence before a muffled voice said, "Enter."

The four of them filed into the room as Konohamaru took it in at a glance. It was a conference room, but there were only two men standing at the far end of the table. Both were dressed in traditional clothes, but at the same time they were very different. The first wore a dark blue kataginu with the crest of Wave country on it. In contrast, the other man's was made out of very fine silk which radiated wealth. He gazed at them with cold blue eyes, as if they were bugs under a magnifying glass. Konohamaru took an instant dislike to him.

The man with the Wave country crest on his clothes spoke up first, "Thank you, Inari that will be all."

Inari saluted and left. Konohamaru kind of wished he had stayed, but at the same time was happy to see him go because he was distracting. Reasserting his unofficial role as team leader he spoke up and introduced his team, stressing that they were all Chunin.

The rich man turned to address the other, who was presumably Capt. Kuroda, "I've worked with ninja before, but they still seem a bit young for this mission."

Konohamaru was about to object to that, but as he opened his mouth both of his teammates poked him with their elbows. Fortunately, Capt. Kuroda came to their defense. "Mori, I assure you that the Leaf has always provided us with top quality ninjas before and I personally stress the importance of this mission, which was also reflected in the price we paid."

Mori, as the man was known, now glanced back over at the trio and nodded, "All right, I guess I will give you the details now." He reached into his pocket and tossed a small round object at Konohamaru. Catching it, he looked down to see a small perfectly round sphere that was blood red. His two teammates both leaned over to look at it.

"That is something called a Blood Pearl, and you'll probably never be this close to one again. They are very rare and very expensive. To own one means wealth. In fact, they're so rare and prized that they don't even have to be perfect spheres. Jewelers design pieces around the shape the pearl is."

Konohamaru looked up from the thing in his hand. "Aren't all pearls round?"

"No," the man answered looking down at him, "It's actually rare."

"So you want us to guard a shipment?" Udon questioned.

"No, we will be handling that. We need you to guard the divers." He gestured towards the map and they gathered around it. The map was of Wave country and the man tapped on one bay that was not too far from where the main city was. "Blood Pearl's only occur through some very rare circumstances. They're impossible to farm and can only come from the sea. Their distinctive color is actually caused by a rare type of algae that only plume sporadically. One of these plumes is just about to finish happening. We're going to harvest everything in the affected area. It should take about a month."

Capt. Kuroda took over the briefing. "Mori's company has made a deal with Wave. We provide them with security and exclusive access. In return we get twenty percent of the profits. Your village will be paid by both of us." He tapped the bay on the map and continued, "We're cutting off this entire area and will be providing a five-man squad from the National Guard, but you may act independently of them."

Konohamaru nodded and after a second of thought said, "Eight, eight, eight."

"Excuse me?" Mori said with a raised eyebrow.

The former grandson smiled, taking a slight pleasure in the man's confusion. "Eight hours on guard duty, eight hours of sleep and eight hours of downtime."

"Downtime?" The man echoed, "What do you mean by that?"

He nudged Udon to explain, "Well, you see whenever someone is on guard duty for an extended time, it can easily become fatiguing. Downtime, even if it's only a few hours, helps keep the mind sharp."

The former honorable grandson tossed the pearl he still had back at the man deliberately high, causing the man to lunge to catch it. "We'll sleep on site so at a minimum there'll always be two of us there, but most of the time it will be the three of us. When do you want us there?"

"Come to this building an hour before dawn and we'll have someone escort you there," Capt. Kuroda said glancing over at the other man. After a second he added, "That will be all."

The three excused themselves, and almost as soon as the door was closed, Moegi rounded on Konohamaru. "Did you have to treat the client like that?" She demanded.

"What? The guy was looking down at us."

She pursed her lips and he found himself wishing that she still harbored a crush on him. Things were so much simpler back then when she had been just like Udon.

"This is why you were the last of us to be promoted."

That stung, but he wasn't going to show it. "So what, I'm still going to be Hokage after Naruto."

"Guys, come on it's over with." Udon spoke up acting as peacemaker.

They left the building without saying another word, but paused as they saw Inari leaning casually against the wall. He no longer had his Naginata, but smiled as he approached them.

"Hey, did the meeting go okay?"

"Um… yeah, it went fine." Konohamaru said nervously.

"That's good." Inari said scratching the back of his head. "I was wondering if you three would like to go out and eat. I mean, we will be working together and I figure we could get to know each other a little and I figure that would be a good thing."

Moegi smiled and glanced over at Konohamaru before she said. "That would be nice Inari, but Udon and I want to get in one more date before the mission starts. However, I'm sure Konohamaru would like to join you." Grabbing Udon by the hand she pulled him away, leaving the two boys alone.

* * *

Konohamaru was nervous, which was stupid because it was not like they were on a date or anything. Okay, it may just be the two of them at a restaurant and Inari was insisting that everything would be on him, but as far as Inari was concerned, he was straight. If the young Sarutobi had any say in the matter, it would stay that way too. Still, once the two of them had overcome the initial awkward silence it had gone pretty well.

They had started out by talking about Naruto. Apparently, ever since Inari had visited the Leaf village, Naruto and he had been exchanging letters on a fairly regular basis. Naruto had told Inari that he had wanted to accept the mission, but his Genin team was going to be taking the exam now and he couldn't leave the village. Personally, Konohamaru didn't think they had a snowball's chance in a fireball of passing, but that was Naruto's optimism for you.

Mentally, the future Hokage canceled his plans to kill Moegi the next time he saw her. He didn't know why she had suddenly become so interested in his love life, but he wished she would stop. The young ninja was having a nice time, but he was not on a date.

"So, what's the story with you and that innkeeper?" Konohamaru asked during a lull in the conversation.

"Akemi?" Inari questioned. "There's really not much to say, Akemi and her mother run that Inn which they started back when her father was still alive. About a month ago they were robbed. After it happened, her mother ran into the street shouting they had been robbed. At the time, I was only a block away and I ended up chasing down the guy." The slightly smaller teen shrugged, "Ever since then she's been sort of like that. I guess it's my own fault for stopping and seeing how they're doing."

Konohamaru nodded in sympathy. "Something similar happened to me about a year ago when I was escorting a caravan through an area where there were lots of bandits."

"So you know what it's like. My mom and grandfather say I should go out with her, but it wouldn't seem right."

"Yeah, I understand," he replied taking a sip of his soda. What he didn't add was if it had been the girl's twin brother who had offered to take him into the bushes he wouldn't have hesitated. "So what's your rank in this National Guard thing anyways Inari?" His companion looked down and away, and again Konohamaru thought how cute he was, but quickly tried to banish that thought.

"I'm a lieutenant. I have four people who work under me and we patrol about ten blocks when I have to patrol."

"Oh, that's impressive." His respect for the boy had just increased tenfold, and oddly, it made him even more appealing to him.

Inari shook his head, "Not really. I think I've been given a little special treatment because what I did at the Bridge when I was a kid. My grandfather is kind of famous too because what he did and all."

"It was kind of the same with my grandfather," Konohamaru confided. "My grandfather was the leader of the village, and when I was younger everyone treated me special. I got away with a lot more than anyone else could have. Of course, when I met Naruto that all changed." Pain usually didn't bring back good memories, but remembering how his friend had hit him during their first meeting was one that could.

The conversation turned back to Naruto and shortly thereafter they finished their meal. Inari paid and said he had to leave because he had to get up early the next day. Konohamaru watched him walk away until he was swallowed up by the crowd, feeling far more than the beginning of a friendship blooming.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I'm sorry for the long delay, but I was halfway done when my computer died and I lost everything. Back everything up! Now to the reviews.

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Konohamaru did one last check of his equipment before looking over at his friend and asking, "Are you ready?"

Udon slipped on his pack as he nodded and said, "Let's go."

The two fourteen-year-olds made their way to the door, leaving behind some of their stuff. The two rooms had been rented for the duration of the mission. This was fine with Konohamaru, because they gave them access to a shower on their downtime. Bathing could easily become a luxury on missions. A few months ago, Moegi had fallen into a swamp during a mission and not even Udon had wanted to be within ten feet of her for the next several days. So having access to a shower was going to be great.

Stepping into the hallway, his smile faltered for a second as he saw Moegi leaning against her door ready to go. He had not seen her since she had left him alone with Inari and although he would admit to having a good time. That only meant she had gone from his kill on sight to partially forgiven list.

With little more than a nod to acknowledge her presence, he started down the hallway when she suggestively said, "How did your date go?"

Ignoring the question, Konohamaru addressed Udon. "Why is your girlfriend so suddenly interested in my love life?"

Konohamaru couldn't see his friend, but he could tell that Udon had shrugged either because he didn't know or didn't want to get involved. Moegi responded by stepping in front of him, blocking his path. "Okay Konohamaru, I'm sorry for being so pushy. I'll drop it, if you answer two questions."

Their eyes met and he sighed in defeat, "Fine."

"First, are you attracted to Inari?"

The young Sarutobi resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. It wasn't like Moegi and he had ever compared guys before. "Inari is good-looking and he seems like a nice guy."

"Then why don't you ask him out?"

"Because," he stretched out the word, annoyed, "It's not that simple. Just because I like a guy doesn't mean I can just ask them out. I'm not even sure how acceptable it would be in this country to do that and since we're going to be working with him, I don't want that trouble."

The orange haired kunoichi smiled at that and said, "Okay I won't say another word to you about it." With that she turned and headed down the steps with a bounce.

Konohamaru turned to Udon and asked a little worried, "Is she planning something?"

His friend sniffed, "I think she's just teasing you."

"Maybe," Konohamaru said before pushing the issue to the side and going after her.

The streets were empty and were only occasionally lit by streetlights. They retraced the path that they took yesterday and when they arrived at the National Guard building they noticed a single man standing under a lamppost. He seemed to be in a uniform and leaning on a Naginata much like Inari had the other day.

He noticed their approach and raised a hand in greeting. In the light they could see that he was either in his late teens or early twenties as he smiled broadly and said, "My name is Kisho and I guess I'll be your guide."

The team from Konoha introduced themselves and after a moment of small talk they headed off. Secretly, Konohamaru was happy that Inari had not greeted them. He was still embarrassed about how distracted he had been at their first meeting. Granted, the teen was good-looking, but not overly so.

In a few minutes, they left the town behind and entered the woods. Their guide must've been familiar with the terrain because he never hesitated, even in the poor light of a predawn morning. Kisho kept up a string of questions, asking them what it was like to be a ninja or how many missions they had been on. Konohamaru was happy to answer and only occasionally fudged the answer. His team may have forty-five missions under their belt, but about fifteen of those were D-rank and even a couple of their C-ranked missions had been cakewalks.

In a surprisingly short time they arrived at their destination. The bay itself was a crescent shape. There was a sandbank on one side, extending into the bay at the mouth. This made the entrance to the bay only about forty feet. Currently, there were a dozen people standing on the sandbank with two boats in the water and several other floating things he couldn't recognize.

Kisho led them over to the group by walking around the bay and it wasn't until they were almost on top of the group that Konohamaru noticed Inari. His back was turned to him apparently talking to the man in the boat, but he was in a similar uniform to Kisho's. However, unlike when he had seen Kisho, Inari's uniform made blood divert from his brain.

The uniform itself was a light blue with the crest of the Wave Country on the back. The sleeves were short and the pants were loose but bunched up under the rope that functioned as a belt. They were currently showing off Inari's calf muscles. On top of his head was a soft cap and even with his back turned, he assumed that Inari had the cheek guards like the others. His footwear was standard, but overall he thought the package was rather nice looking.

With an effort, he pulled his mind away from his perverted thoughts just in time as Inari turned and smiled at them. He waved them over saying, "Come take a look at this."

They approached and Konohamaru glanced at the objects in the water which he now saw had a heavy chain running through them. "What's that for?"

Inari grinned and with evident pride explained, "Well, it was an idea I had a couple of weeks ago when I first heard about this operation. You see the way the pearl divers work is they have one mother ship which is sort of like home base for their little rowboats. The mother ship is big and slow. So to protect it, I figured we could seal off the entire bay."

"Won't that trap it though?" Moegi asked.

The young lieutenant shrugged, "Yes, but if anyone attacks they'll have to bring boats with them and they'll have to be fast enough to overtake the mother ship anyway. However, if the bay is sealed off, the boat is protected."

"Like putting it in a castle," Udon commented.

Inari nodded pointing to the floating objects and explained, "Once the ship is inside the bay, we will float these buoys across the mouth. The chain is already anchored on this side and we're going to anchor it over there," he pointed across the water to a rocky outcrop directly opposite of them. "Once it's anchored there the chain will float just inches under the surface and should stop any large boat from penetrating the bay. If they try to ram one of the buoys thinking it's a weak point, well." His grin widened, "You may not be able to see it now, but each one of those buoys have a metal spike just under the surface of the water. If they're hit at speed, they will penetrate the boat's haul."

Konohamaru had been picturing the scenarios as Inari described each defensive measure, but then his mind conjured up a possibility that may not have been considered. "What if they use small boats? I've heard of boats that only have a few inches of draft."

Inari nodded, but it was with the satisfaction of someone who had been anticipating a question. "Well, the part of the chain that's in the water has a small and thin shaft of metal between every link. If a boat tries to go over the top, there bottom will be ripped out."

"That's pretty clever. Did you think it up yourself?" Konohamaru asked him.

The other teen deflated a little. "Not really. Laying a chain across the water to stop boats is a pretty old tactic. I just modified it."

Konohamaru suddenly felt the urge to say something positive, but Udon moved the conversation forward before he could make a fool out of himself. "How are you doing the patrols?"

"I'm going to station someone over there," Inari gestured over his shoulder to the rocky outcrop where he intended to anchor the chain. "I think it's the best spot to keep an eye on the sea. Other than that I was just going to have two-man patrols walk along the shores of either side of the bay. I'm not sure how the other lieutenants will do it though."

"Ship on the horizon!" one of the other men called out and that was the end of their conversation.

Suddenly everyone was doing something except for the ninjas from Konoha. They dropped back to get out of the way and just watched. The dot on the horizon quickly expanded into a twenty foot boat. Konohamaru wasn't sure what he was expecting, but the boat was little different than a fishing trawler and that was slightly disappointing. It slowly made its way into the bay before dropping anchor. Then Inari and the rest of the National Guard sprung into action, quickly and efficiently they spread the chain across the mouth of the bay. From their point of view the operation seemed to go off without a hitch.

"You know Inari is pretty clever. The way he built it the chain will rise and fall with the tide," Udon commented.

"Yeah, so if anyone attacks they'll need to attack by land to disconnect the chain and by sea to get to the boat. Well, unless they're a ninja," Moegi added.

"Maybe we should get to work now too," Konohamaru said turning to face his team. "What shifts do you want?"

"I've been thinking about that," Moegi said glancing over at her boyfriend. "If the two of us, Udon and me, play a little with our shifts, we should have some time that overlaps."

Konohamaru shrugged, not really caring, "As long as there's always one of you two here, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll take the first shift, you two set up the tent."

It took about an hour for the site to calm down. Eventually there were only five National Guard members on the site. That included Inari who seemed to have the same shift as he did. He kind of wished that wasn't the case, but there wasn't anything he could really do about it now. However, since Inari had given himself the position on the rocks, it was easy enough to avoid him.

As always, the former honorable grandson quickly became bored with guard duty. The woods itself were an old growth forest and there was very little underbrush that might conceal someone's approach. For a while, he entertained himself with coming up with plans of how he would attack, but there were only so many options. They would have to get to the boat to get the pearls and that was not going to be an easy task.

For a while, he watched the pearl divers, which was kind of interesting. They worked from three small rowboats and would disappear under the surface for minutes at a time. Once, he even concentrated chakra and walked on the water, looking down at the divers as they worked and that gave him an idea. What if they attack from underwater? It was a standard infiltration tactic, but it was something he hadn't considered.

Fortunately, Udon was still awake, fresh from the eight hours of sleep he just had and the three of them had an impromptu meeting over lunch. That led to a meeting with the captain of the boat. Apparently, they intended to work twenty-four hours a day and he assured them that the boat would be well lit during the night. After that, Udon used a Jutsu to fall asleep and Moegi went to brief Inari on the possible threat.

At this point, Konohamaru decided that boredom was to be his biggest enemy for today and the foreseeable future. If they kept all the Blood Pearls on board the boat then no one would probably bother trying to attack for two to three weeks. At least that's what he would do. Eventually he struck up a conversation with Kisho who was apparently Inari's second-in-command. Talking to him was interesting enough that he didn't notice that Inari and Moegi's conversation had gone on much longer than necessary.

His shift ended when the new squad of National Guard members came to relieve Inari's squad. The relief team had a few younger members and one was even pretty close to Inari's age. As one squad replaced the other, Moegi walked up to him and said, "All right, you are relieved."

With a yawn he replied, "Have fun."

As he turned to walk away she called to his back, "Let Udon sleep. I'll wake him up in four hours."

Konohamaru did the math in his head and smiled. If Udon was up for the first four hours of Moegi's downtime and the last four hours of her shift that meant they could spend eight hours a day together. Of course, they wouldn't do that, but it was a neat trick. "Just remember only one of you can leave the site at once."

"Thanks fearless leader we know the rules."

Moegi's tone made him smile and he waved goodbye without looking. Technically, he was on his down time and could leave the site, but with Udon sleeping he thought he should stick around for a while. It wasn't like there was much he could do in town anyway and he did have a book to read. Konohamaru normally didn't like reading, but the book had been written by a great ninja and the main character's name was Naruto which was kind of funny to him at least.

Konohamaru settled himself by a tree and as it was still early in the afternoon there was enough light to read by. He had only read a few pages when a shadow blocked his light and he looked up a little annoyed, but then surprised said, "Inari?

"Hi," the teen said with a nervous smile. He shifted his weight nervously and said, "Um. I was talking to your friend and," Inari trailed off and looked down at his feet.

Fear gripped Konohamaru, but he was too scared to demand that the other teen finish his sentence.

"Would you like to go out on a date?" Inari blurted out. "I mean, it's okay if you don't, but it might be nice. I don't know about you but I had a nice time yesterday and it would be like that only, you know, different."

The young Sarutobi was stunned and it took him a minute to register what had just been asked of him. "You want to go out with me?" He felt his cheeks warm which just embarrassed him further. "Um, ok. Sure, why not." Tension visibly left Inari's body as Konohamaru continued, "Maybe we should go to that restaurant we went to yesterday. Why don't we meet there in about four hours?"

"That would be great. I need to change anyways," Inari responded. Then he hesitated and said sheepishly, "Can we keep this subtle? Nobody really knows that you know."

"Sure," Konohamaru responded.

"Then I'll see you there?"

"Yeah, in four hours."

"Yeah."

* * *

Akihiko had once been a ninja of Takigakure. He had been one of the Waterfalls village's best ninja and eventually that is what drove him away from the village. He had risen fast. He had achieved the rank of Jonin at fifteen. For ten years at that rank he had taken on mission after mission. Eventually though, he had become frustrated. There was no chance he would ever become the village's leader so he had already reached his peak rank. That in itself would have been tolerable, but the mission pay.

The village took about eighty percent of the ryo for each mission he went on. It started to grate on his nerves. Why was he risking his life day after day for other people and barely being compensated for it? He couldn't answer that question and had even attempted to quit taking on so many missions, but Takigakure was small. When he started to go weeks between missions, the villagers noticed. Eventually he was called to meet with the village's leader and he explained his frustrations to him.

The old man had listened and nodded in all the right spots, but told him that's how it was. It wasn't until then, that he realized how much he had been contributing to the coffers of the village. The old man had told him how proud he should be for helping the village so much and no, he would not be receiving one more ryo than he already was. It didn't matter how hard he worked or how dangerous the missions were, his pay wouldn't change.

Well, if that was how it was going to be then fine. Akihiko accepted the next high ranked mission he was assigned and simply never came back. To be honest he wasn't sure if he was listed as a missing-nin or just KIA and frankly he didn't care. For ten years he had become a true mercenary. Selling his services to anyone who would hire him, he hadn't even bothered to change his name. Assassinations or guard duty, he didn't really care. In reality, the work had changed little, but the pay had. He had amassed a small fortune, and after this mission, he could easily retire at the age of thirty-five.

The mission was basically theft, but his employer insisted on bringing in some of his own people. Akihiko would admit that might not be a bad thing. They may just be thugs, but he would need help operating the boat and it would be easier to hide in the confusion. Of course, he still had to do the groundwork and that's why he was in a little bar in Wave Country waiting for an individual to show up. Almost on cue, the man he had been waiting for entered the bar and looked around before spotting him.

The man made his way to the back of the room and took a seat in the booth with Akihiko. Knowing they wouldn't be over heard and not one for preamble he leaned forward and said, "Tell me Kisho, what's security like on the site?"


	3. Chapter 3

Konohamaru rocked back on his heels as he glanced nervously up and down the street looking for Inari. This was the problem with meeting someone for a date, he thought to himself. Someone, and it always seemed to be him, ended up waiting for the other to arrive. Senichi had always kept him waiting too. Although this time he would admit that he had arrived about thirty minutes early. He wasn't really nervous, after all, it wasn't like this was his first date or anything, but he still wasn't exactly sure how Moegi had set this up.

He had confronted her after Inari had left, but she had been evasive. All she said was they had started talking about dating, and somehow from there she had learned that Inari thought he was good-looking. Maybe Inari had no problem telling other people about his preferences, but that didn't seem right to Konohamaru. In the end he decided he would only dig for the truth if this date went badly.

Then he saw Inari coming down the street and he was about to raise his arm to wave, but thought better of it at the last second. His date had showered, judging by the fact that his hair was still wet underneath the fishing hat he wore. It made him a little self-conscious as he had come right from the site and had not even thought about going to the hotel room to shower. He supposed it didn't matter though as he didn't bring much in way of change of clothes.

"Hi, Konohamaru," Inari said coming up to him. "You look um… good."

"Thanks. So do you," he responded looking the teen up and down. A T-shirt and shorts did look good on him.

His date smiled at that before nervously looking over at the restaurant, "It's more crowded than I thought it would be."

He glanced over at the restaurant which was pretty much full inside, but the patio area still had about half the seats empty. Still, for once, Konohamaru was actually able to see what the other was hinting at. "We could go someplace else, you know. I'm not even that hungry."

Inari glanced over at him relieved and said, "There's a park that overlooks the water. We can walk around and maybe get something from a vendor."

"Sounds good," Konohamaru responded, nodding nervously.

They walked in an uneasy silence until they entered the park. There were several paths to choose from and he let Inari select which one they should follow. After a moment, he broke the silence. "Is this your first date?"

"Yeah, you?"

The young ninja put his arms behind his head and said with pride, "I've had a boyfriend, but we broke up."

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't be. We were kind of only dating because there weren't too many other people my age I could date." That was mostly true, he thought to himself, but Senichi had also been pretty good looking and the two of them have had fun.

"I see."

Deciding it was up to him to get more than a two word response out of his date Konohamaru asked, "So, are you bi or gay and when did you know?" The other teen seemed to cringe at the question and Konohamaru couldn't help but notice the difference in personality from earlier.

"Gay, and I guess it was when I went to Konoha. I was about twelve then and ran into Naruto. Well, you know."

The young ninja laughed out loud, but when he saw the expression on the other's face he quickly explained, "I had a crush on Naruto, too. Although, I think my crush started a lot younger than yours did. When I was young I always wanted him to play with me. I think I had one of those little kid crushes on him."

Inari laughed, breaking the tension, and added, "You know, come to think about it, I think I might've had one of those, too." They continued walking, the mood lightening until he asked, "What's it like where you're from? I mean I think your teammate seems to know and she's okay with it."

Konohamaru thought for a minute before answering the question. "I don't think most people care. It's not like I've announced it to the village or anything, but I mean, I don't hide it either. I told my friends and my parents, but beyond that it is sort of there. It's not like there's a huge population I can date though."

"You told your parents," Inari said turning to him in amazement. "How did they take it?"

Yeah, definitely still in the closet, he thought. "Well, that's kind of a long story."

"I'm listening," the other said anxiously.

"Well," Konohamaru began with a sigh, "I told them a little after I told my friends. They seemed to take it well and I thought everything was fine. Then a few days later they invited some friends over who just happened to have a girl my age and then a few days later they did the same thing with a different group of friends who just so happened to have a girl a little younger than me."

He smiled at his companion's expression. "It took me about seven different girls before I realized what they were trying. You see, the only girl I was ever close to growing up was Moegi, and she was a bit of a tomboy. They thought that might've confused me, or at least that's what they said when I confronted them about it."

"So what happened then?"

"They didn't really say anything. About a month later, though, they told me I was going to have a little brother or sister," Konohamaru finished a bit bitterly. He knew he shouldn't take it personally. There were, after all, clan considerations to be thought of. The clan had to survive after all, but he couldn't help feeling they were trying to replace him.

"Sorry," Inari said quietly.

He shrugged. "It's a clan thing and I always wanted a little brother or sister anyway." Turning the question around he asked, "So what's it like here?"

The other teen hesitated, then said, "Nobody knows. I'm not sure how my mom would take it or my grandfather. Naruto and I have been sending letters to each other since I went to help rebuild your village and I told him in one of those about two months ago. I was worried sick waiting for his response, but he was okay with it."

"Yeah, he's good like that. So there's no place you could hook up with someone?" Konohamaru asked.

"Well," the other boy paused and then said hurriedly, "There is, sort of. There's this one bar that some single fishermen go to if they've been out at sea for a while. The bar is not exactly respectable, though, if you know what I mean."

The young Sarutobi nodded even though he wasn't completely following. Then an ice cream stand caught his eye and he said, "Let's get some. I'll treat."

They continued on their date, swapping stories and just generally getting to know each other. The two continued to walk until they settled on a bench that had a nice view of the water and the Great Naruto Bridge. Without either of them noticing, an hour had slipped by and then two. It was only the gradual descent of the Sun that brought their date to an end. It was during a lull in the conversation that Konohamaru said, "I have to go. Have the early-morning shift."

Inari nodded, "Yeah, me too." There was a moment of silence and then he added, "This was nice."

Konohamaru let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as he replied, "Yeah, we should do it again, like tomorrow?"

"I would like that," Inari said with a nod.

The other teen stood to leave and Konohamaru grabbed his hand. "Hey, could you walk me to the hotel? I don't know how to get from here to there." He didn't really need to know that, but Inari would not want to be kissed in a public area and it wouldn't be a real date unless it ended with a kiss. At least that's how he thought of it.

"Okay, I can do that," the boy from Wave replied.

They walked to The Sea View Inn in silence, but this time it was companionable. There was no one at the desk and Konohamaru pulled Inari up the stairs to the surprise of the other boy. When Konohamaru reached his door, pulling the other boy along, he turned and said, "This is a date, right?" The other nodded and the slightly taller boy said, "So how about a kiss goodnight?"

Inari's expression flickered from confusion at being dragged upstairs to embarrassment. He blushed as he said, "I've never kissed anyone."

Konohamaru grinned. "That's okay, just relax and it will come naturally. That is if you want to kiss me."

"Yeah I do, it's just-"

Whatever his excuse was going to be, it was cut off by Konohamaru as he leaned in to kiss the other. At first Inari tensed, but he quickly relaxed and it was only the need for air that broke it. When the young ninja pulled away from him, he saw that Inari had a stupid grin spread across his face and he knew his was just as broad.

"Tomorrow?" Konohamaru questioned.

The other teen was silent for a second and then said, "Definitely."

* * *

The next three weeks fell into a set routine. Konohamaru and Inari had the same morning shift every day, but they tried to keep it professional. That became increasingly difficult as the monotony of guard duty set in. There weren't even the usual false alarms that could usually be counted on to break up the monotony.

About the only thing that distinguished one day from another was the occasional appearance of Mori on the site. He showed up three to five days a week with no real pattern that anyone could see. He never said anything to them, but Konohamaru always made it a point to be on his best behavior when he was around. The man simply appeared out of the woods and would use one of the smaller boats to go to the mother ship and stay on board for twenty to thirty minutes before leaving. His actions became a topic of conversation, but in the end he was probably just overseeing his workers.

Konohamaru's downtime in comparison, though, was far more interesting. Most days he would spend two to three hours with Inari doing something. His boyfriend, as he thought of him now, had successfully introduced him to fishing, which was something they could both do without raising any suspicions. However, some days they would just retreat to the hotel room to play Shogi - or at least that's what they told Akemi when she asked what they were doing up there. They both knew how to play the game, but in reality they spent most of the time talking.

It was kind of fun keeping their relationship a secret and he really was starting to have serious feelings for the other teen. Inari was easy to be around in a way Senichi had never been. The fact that the mission would soon be completed and he would be returning home was something they didn't discuss. Today they were in the hotel room playing a game of Shogi and Konohamaru was just about to win.

"Checkmate," Inari said as he moved one of his pieces forward.

Konohamaru stared down at the board, first double-checking the checkmate and then looking at his own pieces which were only two moves away from a similar destiny. He looked up from the board and met his boyfriend's smiling face. Smiling back, he stood and came around the little table and with mock anger said, "You! I was about to win."

Inari stood too and they both grabbed each other as if they were about to fight. Konohamaru gave him a little push and Inari fell back onto the couch pulling the other teen down with him laughing. The ninja silenced that by pressing his lips against the other's.

His boyfriend had improved greatly in the kissing department since their first one nearly three weeks ago, and really, so had he. Their tongues wrestled for dominance and then Konohamaru felt a hand on his back touching his bare skin. His shirt had ridden up in the fall so it might have been by accident, but as an experiment he responded by letting his one hand creep under Inari's shirt and ran his fingers along the others ribs.

Inari hips pressed up against him and he felt something hard pressed against his own hard thing. For a second they grinded together, but then Inari broke off the kiss saying, "Stop."

Reluctantly, Konohamaru rolled off of him and knelt by the side of the couch. Inari's face was flushed and his eyes were half closed. They were both breathing heavily and after a minute he turned his head towards him. "Sorry."

"It's no big deal," Konohamaru said.

"I really like you."

"I like you too."

"I've been thinking about it, but..." Inari trailed off.

"I understand."

"No, you don't."Konohamaru glanced at him confused as Inari licked his lips nervously and said, "I've been thinking about this. I really like you, but when your mission's over you're going to go back home."

Konohamaru nodded, not wanting to discuss the reality of the situation.

"I don't know when I could find another person like you and I want you to be my first."

The kneeling boy blinked at his companion in shock. "You mean you want to have sex with me?" he said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I know it might seem fast and all, but I really do like you."He paused for a second and added, "I just don't really know how to go about it."

Konohamaru's thoughts attempted to pull him in several directions at once. Certainly, like every teen, he had fantasized about it. First it was with Naruto, then Senichi and about a dozen others in between. Still, he himself had never gone beyond fantasy, and of course, a little reading in a dirty magazine he had. "Well I could get the stuff if you want."

"Stuff?" Inari questioned.

The young ninja blushed. "You know, like lubricant and stuff." As soon as he said those word, his eyes widened, realizing that might not have been where Inari was going.

"Oh yeah, I really don't know anything about that."

The young Sarutobi smiled, "Well I'll get everything."

"Okay, so tomorrow then?" Inari asked.

"All right, how about another game, then?"

His boyfriend grinned widely and said, "I think I can kick your butt one more time."

* * *

The next twenty some hours were difficult for Konohamaru. Obtaining the necessary materials was easy enough. He had transformed into an older man and walked into a pharmacy to buy what he wanted, but when he got back to the site sleep eluded him. He had thought about this almost since the day he hit puberty, but now that it was here he was worried. What if he did something wrong, or, worse, what if he was inadequate in a certain area? Okay, he knew he looked average judging from the occasional glimpse he had seen at the Hot Springs, and from what he had felt, Inari wasn't much different than him, but still he worried.

Eventually he ended up using a sleep Jutsu to find oblivion for the next eight hours. When he woke up for his shift his worries assaulted him anew. Guard duty was a relief to him today as it gave him something to concentrate on and seeing Inari did help a little. They didn't talk about it, they had to keep their conversation short, but he found it reassuring that he seemed nervous too.

Their shift ended without incident like the other twenty before it. As always, he stuck around until Udon woke up, but as soon as he had stumbled out of the tent Konohamaru left. It wasn't exactly a long trip, especially when he took to the trees. Fortunately, it was a familiar path because he wasn't thinking much. Konohamaru hadn't been this nervous since the final stage of the Chunin exam.

Yesterday, they had agreed to meet at the Inn and Konohamaru arrived there first. He slipped past Akemi who was manning the desk unacknowledged. The girl only ever seemed to talk to him when Inari was also with him. That was a little annoying, but he did manage some sympathy for her. Finding out that your first crush would not return your feelings was not easy. If she had stopped him, he would've said that they were meeting in the room to play Shogi, which was probably the strangest euphemism for sex ever.

Stepping into his room, he looked around nervously at a loss as to what to do now. Where should he put the bag of stuff he bought? If he put it out in the open would that make Inari feel obligated because Konohamaru had already bought the stuff? What if he hid the bag? Would that give Inari the message that maybe he didn't want to do this? All this thinking was making his head hurt as there didn't seem to be any right decisions. In the end, he decided to take the stuff out of the bag and put it on the night-stand that was in between the beds.

Then, he realized that the curtains were open so he closed them, but then he thought it might be too dark, so he just adjusted the shades so that no one could look in. It was then that he realized he was still wearing his sandals. They usually took them off when they first came into the room, but today he had forgotten, so he kicked them off and put them by the door. After that, he looked around for something else to do, but found nothing.

He sat on one of the twin beds and tried to repeat what he knew about sex. Senichi had told him a lot and he even read an article or two about the subject in a few dirty magazines his parents didn't know about. Minutes crawled by and when there was a knock on the door he jumped up. Reaching the door in a few strides, he opened it and smiled at Inari.

Inari smiled back and said, "Sorry. Akemi kind of cornered me for a while."

"It's okay," Konohamaru said, stepping back to let the other teen in.

After closing the door they both stared at each other, smiling nervously for a moment and not saying anything. Inari broke the silence, "So now what?"

"I guess we can sit down," Konohamaru said.

"Okay."

The two quietly moved to the beds and sat on opposite ones facing each other, and after a second, Inari nodded over at the stuff on the nightstand, "Condoms?"

"Yeah, you put those on when you know, you know-"

"I get it," Inari said quickly. "But what about those disposable gloves?"

Konohamaru face reddened. "Well, you know, for applying the lube."

"Oh," Inari said looking down at his bare feet. After a long moment of silence he looked back up and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know how to get started."

"Well, we don't have to do anything if you don't want to." Konohamaru said, partly hoping his boyfriend wouldn't go back on it and partly wishing he would.

"No, I want this with you. I might not have another chance for a really long time."

The other smiled as he moved to sit next to his boyfriend and gave him a peck on the cheek which felt unusually warm against his lips. "You're cute. I thought so since I first saw you and I doubt I'm the only one."

Inari turned with a small smile and said, "I thought the same about you." When he leaned in for his kiss it was on the lips. One of them deepened the kiss and their arms slowly snaked around each other. Calloused fingers moved under shirts and over virgin skin, stroking, caressing. This blissful state of affairs lasted for some time until Inari broke off and started laughing so hard that he fell backwards onto the bed holding his stomach.

Konohamaru was hurt at first, but the other said (or at least tried to through his laughter), "I'm sorry, it's just so..." He cut himself off, as he was hit with another wave of laughter.

Konohamaru smiled as he suddenly felt the urge to start laughing himself, which only caused Inari to laugh more. He ended up doubling over and burying his face in the comforter on the bed. They both continued to laugh which eventually subsided into chuckling.

Once they both fell silent, Inari said, "I feel a lot better."

"Yeah," the other responded, realizing that the tension that had existed between the two of them had vanished.

"You still want to do it?" Inari asked with a broad grin across his face.

"More so than ever," Konohamaru said, smiling. "Maybe we should get naked first though."

They both climbed to their feet and looked at each other, their faces still both red from earlier. "On three," Inari said tugging at his shirt.

"All right."

Inari started to count and on three they both took off their shirts and threw them on to the other bed. Both of them admired the view of the others chest, Konohamaru's narrow where Inari's was broad. Besides that one major difference, there was little difference between the two of them. Neither had obvious muscles, but every small action showed the hint of them just under the skin. Inari's nipples might have been bigger, but it was hard to tell from Konohamaru's point of view.

"Pants on three?" Konohamaru only distantly realized that he had said it this time as Inari nodded. They both unbuttoned and unzipped before he started counting down, and together on three they only stood in their boxers.

The young ninja felt his member harden as he saw Inari in his boxers with a noticeable lump. If it wasn't for the solitary button at his opening he would be seeing a little more. Unconsciously, he waved his lips. With an effort he pulled his eyes away from down south and looked at his boyfriend's face.

Inari smiled nervously and said, "Okay, let's do this."

Without another word they both simultaneously lowered their boxers. Konohamaru's erection slapped against his belly before settling at a slight angle, but he didn't pay any attention to it trying to get a glimpse at Inari's equipment. Unfortunately, he was currently hiding it with one hand and he only slowly removed it for the others inspection.

The young ninja wasn't sure what he was expecting, but what he saw looked a lot like his. Inari's penis was erect if not pointing as high. He had a thin patch of dark hair on top and some on his testicles. On closer examination, though, he noticed that one of the testicles was slightly higher than the other giving it an uneven appearance, but it was only noticeable due to his intense inspection.

Realizing that his own equipment was most likely going under a similar scrutiny Konohamaru said, "Hey, I'm bigger."

"No you're not," Inari said after a moment.

"Sure I am. Here, take a look." Konohamaru took two steps forward so that their toes were almost touching and said, "Here, hold it like this." He positioned his erection so that it was up against his stomach and left it there with only a single finger.

Inari copied his actions and Konohamaru leaned into him until their erections touched at the tip. His was slightly larger, but the smaller of the two said dismissively, "That's because you're just a little taller than me. Here," he shifted his weight forward onto his toes, causing some of his pubic hair to brush up against the others. "See."

He smiled and said while grabbing both of their erections with his hand, "Well I'm still thicker."

His boyfriend gasped as he grabbed something that had not known another hand for years. It felt weird holding both of their erections. They were both warm with that strange soft, but hard, feeling to them. Experimentally, he squeezed them together and this time they both gasped a little as pre-come emerged from their tips.

"Konohamaru, let's do it."

He kissed Inari when he heard those words before letting their members go and turning back to grab a condom. Ripping open the packaging with his teeth, he quickly put it on without any difficulty. To his slight disappointment, he didn't really stretch it that much, but the latex was a strange feeling against his skin. Behind him he heard Inari climbing onto the bed as he put on a latex glove and opened the small container of Vaseline which had been the only lubricant he could find at the small store.

Dipping to fingers in, he applied a liberal amount to his index and middle finger. When he turned back around he forgot what he was doing. Inari was on the bed with his knees under him, but spread to either side with his butt in the air. His face was turned toward him and was flushed with color.

"Is this okay?"

The voice sounded as if it had come from a great distance to reach Konohamaru's ears and he had to shake himself out of his stupor. "Yeah, it's great."

If there had been any heterosexual thoughts in his head they would've been evicted as he realized that this was what he wanted. Inari's buttocks were resting on his feet with his testicles hanging down in between. He doubted that there could be a greater sight to see in all of Wave.

He approached reverently. The pre-come was wetting his condom and pressing against his penis as he laid the ungloved hand on one of Inari's cheeks, caressing it. It was smooth and soft, just like he thought it would be. His partner jumped at first but relaxed after the initial contact.

"Is it okay if I start?"

"Please," Inari responded.

Konohamaru allowed his thumb to travel down Inari's cheeks, dividing them until he found his hole. Pausing a second to examine it, he brought his other hand up and slowly began to wipe some of the Vaseline around it. He felt his partner tense as he made the initial penetration so he only went in a knuckle deep before pausing. "Are you okay?

"Yeah, it's just," he trailed off before saying, "Just continue."

"All right,' he replied, starting to make small circles before going in deeper. Besides the initial penetration, Inari's insides were surprisingly warm and kind of soft. It was surprising. After a moment, he added another finger with only a little grunt from Inari. He slowly moved his fingers inside the other teen before pulling out after a minute.

The Vaseline reflected the light and that was part of the reason why he couldn't take his eyes off of the others entrance. He quickly spread the rest of the lubricant onto his own latex covered member. "Are you sure it's okay to put it in Inari?"

"Yes," Inari said breathlessly.

"Okay, I'm putting it in," Konohamaru said, lining his member up with the others entrance.

He spread both cheeks with his thumbs and began to push in. The young ninja was unsure what to expect, but it was not what he found. His tip brushed against the others cheeks before arriving at the entrance and he began to push in. At first it was a little tight, but once he was a little in the rest slipped in easily. The passage was tight and warm and he pushed in until he hit something within Inari that caused him to gasp.

For a moment they stayed like that, with Konohamaru buried to the hilt inside of Inari. Then he started to pull back, and his partner pushed back unconsciously, not wanting him to leave that one spot. It took several slow thrusts for them to find a rhythm. Thrusting and pushing had its inevitable conclusion. Inari climaxed with a gasp, his entire body tensing including his passage. Konohamaru's member was suddenly engulfed in an even tighter space and that pushed him over the edge, filling his condom.

His climax was different than if he had done it with his own hand. It was somehow more intense, more fulfilling and more exhausting. He pulled out and sat on the bed before lying down next to his lover. For several minutes the only sounds in the room were those of the two of them panting, and then Inari propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at Konohamaru. "So was I okay for a first timer?" He said this with a grin, intending to be funny.

Konohamaru shrugged, "I guess. It was my first time too."

A strange expression crossed over the others face as he said, "You said you had a boyfriend before!"

Taken off guard, Konohamaru said defensively, "Yeah, but we never did anything like that."

His boyfriend sat up and he followed, sensing something was wrong, but was immediately pushed back down as Inari said with a grin. "That means you're still a virgin. Can't have that now, can we?"

Konohamaru tried to throw him off and for a moment they wrestled. This turned into fondling. This turned into straddling, which caused Konohamaru to join the former virgin club.


	4. Chapter 4

Akihiko quietly listened to the third and final report from Kisho. Of course, his mole wasn't aware of that fact, but he soon would be. He may have recruited this man, but that didn't necessarily mean he knew which way he would jump when push came to shove. Akihiko knew that Kisho was bitter, he served under someone younger than himself; someone he thought was only promoted to that position because of past heroics. As the man had confided to him upon their first meeting when he was quite drunk, "I was there on the bridge too. We all were, but he gets the credit."

Akihiko had not shared his opinion that an eight year-old organizing an armed mob was not impressive. He had made it a point of looking into that, as he had an interest in the fall of any missing-Nin. Then again, in his profession, age ment very little, it was experience and skill that determine one's rank. It was something that this National Guard of Wave had tried to copy, but without the culture in place, there was bound to be people like Kisho who chafed under a younger person's command. Of course, the man also had a financial motive. A million Ryo was apparently enough to sell out one's comrades these days.

"The overall feeling is pretty relaxed. Were all kind of tired too," Kisho finished.

The missing-nin nodded absentmindedly, having tuned out and said, "All right, I'll attack tomorrow."

His mole's reaction was predictable. Shock quickly changed to anger as he leaned in and said, "You told me I would have a three day warning. I was supposed to feign being sick and then be absent on the day you attack."

Akihiko let out a world-weary sigh. "Kisho," he said in his best fatherly voice, "if you had done that, you would be almost immediately suspected. It's better this way. I'll take you out with a Genjutsu and when you wake up, it will all be over."

"How do I know you're not going to kill me in the fight?" Kisho demanded as his eyes narrowed to slits.

The missing-nin shook his head amused. "Listen, I'm a professional. For you, this is probably an once-in-a-lifetime experience, but for me it's just another day. Despite what you might think, ninjas are not murderers. Ninjas are different from you, that is true, but my mission is to steal the blood pearls and one shouldn't kill if it's not necessary. If you don't find reassurance in that, take solace in the fact that you're not paid enough to be killed."

Akihiko tried to project a calm demeanor as he wasn't sure how Kisho would react. There was a possibility that as soon as he left this bar he would run to his superiors and confess everything, but that seemed unlikely. He wanted to ruin his superior's career and anger towards his organization would probably prevent him from doing that. He would give himself fair odds that he would show up tomorrow like nothing happened and he would bet two to one that the man would simply not show at all.

"Fine, but the money better be there."

"Of course," Akihiko said congenially. He took a sip of his drink as the other man stood to leave. Once he was alone he permitted himself a small smile. Now everything was ready. After tomorrow's mission he would be a wealthy man.

* * *

With one last thrust, Inari released into the condom that sheathed his member. From below, Konohamaru watched as his boyfriend's expression shifted from bliss to euphoric. After a moment, Inari started to lean down and he met him halfway. They kissed before they both wrapped their arms around the other. For a moment, they laid there like that, chest to chest. Then he started to roll the other and they ended up on their backs, holding hands, neither wanting to break the embrace completely.

Closing his eyes, Konohamaru thought back on the previous days. Both of them knew that their time together was coming to an end. His mission to Wave didn't have a definite end date, but they were closing in on four-weeks, which was on the high end of the estimate. Perhaps as a result, their evenings together always ended up with them in bed. It was nice, but as he started to feel the cold air wrap around his body he felt annoyed.

Ordinarily, he would just pull a blanket over himself right about now, but the blanket, comforter and pillows were on the other bed. After their first time Inari had suddenly become afraid that Akemi or her mother might become suspicious when they went to clean the room. He had insisted that they make up the bed. Now they just removed everything beforehand.

For the first time he was feeling annoyed that Inari insisted on hiding everything. Pulling his hand away, Konohamaru sat up and swung his legs out of the bed.

"You okay?" Inari asked.

"I'm fine," Konohamaru replied walking around to the other bed where his clothes were.

"You don't seem fine. Did I hurt you?"

"No, it's just," Konohamaru stopped himself and said, "never mind."

Inari rolled out of bed and unconsciously Konohamaru eyed him. "Come on tell me."

"Alright, I wish we didn't have to hide everything. It's not like I want a parade or anything, but this hiding everything is annoying."

"I know, but-"

"But what?" Konohamaru demanded. "You're just afraid."

Inari's jaw clenched at his words and said, "That's not fair."

"Yeah, whatever," he said putting on his pants. Pulling his shirt over his head he added, "Well you can make the bed by yourself today." With that, he stormed out of the room without another word.

When he had gone several blocks his righteous rage started to vanish. Konohamaru thought back on what had just happened and realized he might have overreacted. Turning back around, he fully intended to apologize to Inari. Running back to the Inn, he collided with Akemi upon entering. She had been sweeping and the collision sent bothof them to the ground.

"Sorry," he said climbing to his feet and offering her a hand up.

She glared up at him before reluctantly taking his hand. Konohamaru was just about to head upstairs when Akemi said, "Did you two have a fight?"

He paused and answered, "Sort of. Why?"

The girl shrugged and went back to her work as she said, "He didn't say goodbye to me when he left. I figured you had something to do with that."

"Oh," he replied wondering if he could find Inari before he had to go back to the site. He knew where Inari's house was, but it was pretty far from where he was now and even if he took to the roofs he probably wouldn't have enough time. Reluctantly, he resigned himself to apologize in the morning when he felt the bottom of the broom hit his leg. "What?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "I asked what you two fought about."

Not knowing what to say, he said the first thing that came to mind, "The drop rule in Shogi. It's a little different from where I'm from."

"That's a pretty dumb thing to argue over," she said going back to her sweeping.

"Yeah it was," Konohamaru said quietly.

Heading back to the campsite, he wasted no time climbing into his sleeping bag, but he didn't go to sleep immediately. Instead, he tried to figure out why he had brought that up now. It wasn't like it really mattered. Up until now, he hadn't minded keeping it a secret, so why? The answer didn't come to him and instead he started to think about the good qualities Inari had. He was easy to talk to, fun to be around, interesting and of course, good-looking.

After a half-hour lying there he thought maybe that was the problem. He liked Inari, he liked him a lot. Maybe the prospect of losing him so soon after meeting him was what was really behind his anger. Was he in love? Konohamaru couldn't tell. He thought that love was something that was supposed to hit you all at once, but if he was in love with Inari, it had sort of crept up on him. Still unsure about what he was feeling, Konohamaru formed the hand signs and found peace in the oblivion of sleep.

The next morning, when he awoke, for the first time in a long time he didn't feel a need to quickly climb out of the tent. Still, in the end, he was a ninja and this was a mission. Reluctantly, he opened the tent and climbed out. The morning passed as they all did. Inari showed up with the rest of his shift and the handoff went off without a hitch, just like every other day. The only thing that distinguished it from any other day was that Inari didn't so much as glance over at him once.

That little detail annoyed Konohamaru and he wondered if perhaps he felt more for Inari then the teen felt for him. So for the first two hours of his shift, he more or less stared at Inari's back, hoping he would turn around, but Inari stubbornly stared out at sea the entire time. Eventually, Konohamaru swallowed his pride and made his way over to his boyfriend.

Hopping up onto the rocky outcropping he said, "Hey."

Inari glanced at him from the corner of his eye for a moment and quietly said, "Hey."

Konohamaru grimaced to himself, he wasn't good at apologizing. "Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell or anything like that. I'm not even sure why I was so angry, but I like spending time with you, so will you forgive me?"

The other was silent for a moment and then he turned and smiled, "Fine, but you have to buy me dinner."

The young ninja chuckled, "All right"

Inari turned his attention back to the sea and Konohamaru joined him, leaning against a rock. Neither of them spoke for a minute and it was Inari who eventually broke the silence. "I don't think I'll ever tell my mom or grandpa."

Konohamaru hesitated not knowing what to say to that, but eventually said, "Why?"

Inari let out a long breath, "I told you about the bar, right? The one where some fishermen go to if they've been out to sea for a while."

"Yeah, you did."

"Well, if I told anyone they would think I would go there and have anonymous sex with just about anyone. I'm not like that and I don't want my mom to even think I'm like that."

"But your mom knows you're not like that. I mean, I know you're not like that and I've only known you for a few weeks."

"It doesn't matter," Inari said interrupting. "That's the image everyone has and even if my mom and grandfather don't think of me that way others will and I don't want to deal with that."

Konohamaru looked at his feet, if anything, feeling more like a jerk then before. A second later he noticed movement by his toe. There wasn't much dirt inbetween the rocks, but there was a little and right now some of it was moving. Curious, he stared at it, wondering if some insect was about to emerge, but when it did it appeared to be a small flower. Before his eyes it grew to about two inches and started to open rapidly. As it opened, it revealed white petals and seemed to scatter golden pollen.

Suddenly, he felt very sleepy, as the world became unfocused. There was a part of his mind that recognized this was a Genjutsu. Stopping the flow of chakra in his body, he sent a surge of chakra through himself, finishing the Genjutsu Cancel. The world snapped back into focus around him. He turned to look at Inari to see if it affected him and found him sprawled on the ground. Kneeling next to him, he brought Inari back to consciousness.

"What happened?" Inari asked, climbing to a knee and wiping some blood away from his lip.

"We're under attack" Konohamaru replied before jumping onto a rock. He scanned the ocean for an enemy, but seeing nothing; he turned around and saw that the other guards had fallen where they stood. That could only mean one thing, it had been a wide field Genjutsu. Whoever had done this was not going to be a pushover.

"Konohamaru get the divers."

His head spun around at the sound of Moegi's voice. He was grateful that she had managed to ward off the Genjutsu, but he didn't understand what she was shouting about. He followed her finger to one of the little boats and it suddenly clicked in his head. If the diver had been underwater when the Genjutsu had been cast they could very well drown. Without a word to Inari, he leapt onto the water and ran over to the boat, looking down the entire time.

Fortunately, the water was clear and spotting the diver, he dove into the water. The diver was maybe ten feet under water and Konohamaru was able to reach him quickly. The man had a tight grip on a rock, which explained why he had not floated to the surface. It took Konohamaru a second break the grip, but once he did, the man started to float upward, but being impatient, he grabbed him and pulled him up. Breaking the surface, he channeled chakra to his feet to stand on the water again and dragged the man over to the boat before attempting to revive him.

Konohamaru had done okay with first aide, but he had no idea if you could revive someone who was under a Genjutsu who also might have drowned. Airing on the side of safety, he broke the Genjutsu before breathing air into the man's lungs. It took several attempts, but then the man coughed, spitting out water and rolling to his side, rocking the boat. He looked over at Konohamaru and said, "What?"

"We're under attack," Konohamaru said interrupting, "Stay in the boat and don't move. If you do that you'll be all right." He didn't know that for sure, but what else was he going to say. The man nodded, clearly scared, and Konohamaru left him there.

He scanned the trees as he made his way back to Inari. His two teammates were crossing the water over to him, both looking around for the enemy. "What do you think they're waiting for?" He said as his two friends came closer. As if in response to his question, there came the sound of two outboard engines in the distance.

* * *

Akihiko crouched in a tree, watching the three ninjas and one guard respond to his Genjutsu. It wasn't the most organized response, but then their security hadn't been all that impressive either. He had transformed himself into a squirrel a mile away from the site and had scampered his way inwards. It appears now he had been overcautious. He was pretty sure that the ninja on duty had not even glanced at the woods once. Still, lax security wasn't necessarily an indicator of their skill. If they were all combat types, this could still be tricky.

The sound of the two motorboats approaching had the desired effect. They turned to face the obvious threat and he broke into a run, making hand signs the entire time. Breaking out of the woods he stopped at the shoreline as water rose up in the shape of a dragon. It shot towards the three ninjas who were still in a tight group.

They scattered a second before it impacted. The water dragon rebounded off of the surface and he sent it after the closest one who was wearing a scarf. The teen retreated across the water and ducked into the woods, the dragon close on his heels. Once the target was out of sight he allowed the dragon to control itself. It smashed through the woods, snapping branches and trees in half in a relentless pursuit of its target.

Neither of the other two ninjas had been standing idle. They moved in a pincer movement, coming towards him and almost simultaneously throwing three kunai each. He dodged them easily enough, going so far as to catch one of the weapons and throw it back at the girl. As she dodged her teammate put on a burst of speed and he turned to block his attack only to curse and jump to the side.

The bespectacled teen had chakra surrounding his hand. Akihiko had never actually seen a chakra scalpel used in combat before, but he could imagine the damage it would've done to his arm.

Upon landing, he had to jump again, this time to avoid a hail of shuriken, but while in the air he heard and then saw an exploding note attached to a kunai above him. Twitching his arm, a kunai slid into his hand from his sleeve and he threw it, neatly severing the flaming note, rendering it harmless.

Okay, he thought to himself, he might have underestimated them just a little. Clearly they were not only talented, but used to working as a team and that easily tripled them as a threat. Of course, he thought to himself upon landing, that could be easily countered. Forming a single hand seal, he created five Water Clone and prepared to triple team them.

* * *

Konohamaru loved Jutsu. He loved learning about them, seeing them done and learning to do them himself. It was something he had probably inherited from his grandfather, but it was also very useful. For example, he knew that the Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet could be guided by the person who created it or if the target was out of sight it could guide itself. However, when it did that it could be easily tricked.

Luring the dragon into the woods was easy enough and once he knew he was out of sight of the creator, he created a shadow clone of himself. Diving out of the way, the dragon followed, not being able to tell the difference between the two of them. His clone was quickly pinned against a tree and destroyed.

The water quickly collapsed back into its natural state and he was running parallel to the bay. Moegi and Udon could hold off and probably take down any ninja, but he was concerned about those boats. Konohamaru had no idea how many blood pearls had been harvested, but judging by the amount of clams that had been bought to the boat, he guessed a lot. So, either those boats would be used to transport the pearls or they were transporting non-ninjas to hijack the boat itself.

When he emerged from the trees, he was on the outside of the Bay, but further away than he thought he would be. Still, he could see what was going on. There were two boats, each of which had four people in them. One seemed to be trying to get past the chain by forcing it down while the other was trying to get close enough to the rocky outcropping to land the men, but Inari was keeping them at bay by slashing whenever they came close.

In the back of Konohamaru's mind, he wondered why they were attacking there. Was it because it was where Inari was guarding or were they trying to detach the chain. That last part seemed unlikely as they wouldn't know which end it was attached to unless they had inside knowledge.

He pushed that thought aside when he saw the predicament his teammates were in. They had been cut off from each other and surrounded by what was most likely water clones. For second, he hesitated, but thanks to Naruto he could be in two places at once. Creating two shadow clones this time, he sent one to help Inari while the other one stayed with him.

Running across the water with his clone at his side, Konohamaru approached the second boat which was trying to make it over the chain. It was tempting to just throw an exploding note on it, but then any element of surprise he had would be ruined. Instead, he and his clone jumped together and landed on the side of the boat. It was only a small fishing vessel, hardly much bigger than a rowboat and the sudden unexpected added weight on one side capsized it.

He didn't spare a glance over his shoulder. Instead, Konohamaru eyed the attacker, trying to determine if the real one was among them. A lot of people who use clones usually hung back and let them do the work, but that wasn't a rule.

Then he saw it. There was one that, while fighting like the others, was also the only one in a position to oversee the entire battle. With the aid of his clone, he created a rasengan and zeroed in on his target.

At that moment he was thankful they were standing on the water as it made for a much quieter approach than dirt or stone would. He aimed the spinning ball of chakra so it would impact dead center in the man's back. Konohamaru was six steps away, then five, then four.

* * *

Akihiko had learned to rely on his instincts long ago and didn't hesitate when something told him to jump, but it was too late. In midair, he felt something collide with him. He was twisted in midair and smashed into the water. The next thing he really remembered was the pain from his leg and after a second of sinking, he consciously headed towards the bottom. There, he twisted around and examined his leg. His leg looked almost burned and when he tried to move it the pain increased tenfold. The scream he let out was muffled by the water.

He pulled back knowing he would have to regroup. Fortunately, his clones covered his retreat, keeping the three busy. That teen had come in from behind and he needed to check on his two boat crews because he needed at least one of them to operate the boat and get it out of here. He started to make his way across the bay on the bottom.

* * *

Konohamaru cursed as his rasengan only delivered a glancing blow. Still, he found satisfaction in knowing it hit the right target and charged the next water clone. With two of the enemies dispatched, his teammates and himself made quick work of the remaining ones. He watched as Udon dispatched the last clone, and then he suddenly received the memories from his clone he had sent to help Inari and fear gripped him.

His clone had picked off the men in the boat by throwing kunai one at a time at each of them. However, unnoticed at least one of the men from the boat he capsized had made it to the shore and in a confusing battle had taken out his clone.

He ran towards Inari. Konohamaru couldn't see anything from where he was and that terrified him. The distance seemed to take forever to clear, but it couldn't have been any longer than when he had run to save his friends. With assistance from his chakra, he jumped up onto the rocks with a kunai drawn, prepared for a fight.

When he looked down he saw blood. The man who had taken out his clone was lying face down and Inari was down too, holding his thigh. Even given the pressure he was applying on his wound, dark red blood was slipping through his fingers. Konohamaru turned and shouted for Udon, "Medic."

* * *

Akihiko analyzed the situation. One boat had capsized and three of the men were currently holding onto one of the buoys for all they were worth. The fourth was dead while the other crew were equally as useless. His leg probably couldn't support his weight. In conclusion, the mission was over.

If it hadn't been for his leg he would've tried to continue, but in the end this had just been a job and he wasn't going to die over it. Without a sound, he disappeared under the surface, not intending to inform his employer that he had failed.


	5. Chapter 5

The hospital in Wave was smaller than the one in Konoha. Konohamaru thought that made sense since the natures of the villages were very different. Probably, the closest thing this place had ever seen to combat injuries were bar fights. Still, once he stepped inside, he had to admit that it had a less intimidating feel to it. Instead of bureaucratic white walls and fluorescent lights, it was wood lined and had recessed lighting.

There was still a receptionist, of course, and this one was as helpful as any he had ever run into. It had been almost two days since the little battle, but the first time he had been able to visit Inari. After the attack they had tightened security, but the harvesting had been pretty much done and the boat had sailed away early that morning.

Konohamaru shook his head as he stepped onto the elevator. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of some of the recent revelations. In a way he found them amusing, but wasn't sure how Inari would feel. Unconsciously, a small smile crossed his lips at the thought of seeing him one more time. Inari's injury wasn't serious, but he had lost a lot of blood.

The elevator dinged and the door slid open as he stepped out into the hallway, glancing at the room numbers as he passed. Finding the right number, he knocked on the frame as the door was open before leaning in. Inari was lying in a hospital bed, propped up with several pillows. There was a woman sitting in the chair next to his bed, his mother he thought, they shared the same hair and eyes.

"Konohamaru come in," Inari said turning to the woman, "Mom, this is Konohamaru, he's my friend I told you about."

The woman stood up with a smile and bowed. "My son told me all about you."

I bet Konohamaru thought returning the polite bow. They exchanged small talk for a few minutes before Inari's mother excused herself. Both of the teens didn't say anything until they heard her footsteps fade down the hallway.

A grin spread over Inari's face, "That's the first time she's left since I've been here."

"My mom was like that too the first time I ended up in the hospital," Konohamaru answered, coming around to sit in the chair she had vacated. It was still warm and for some reason he found that uncomfortable so he stood back up. "Really, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. It's like a big deep scratch on my leg."

"That nicked your superficial semoral artery, requiring twenty-two stitches," he smiled and added, "Udon filled me in."

"Yeah, I really should thank him."

"Yeah," There was an awkward silence and Konohamaru eventually said, "Has anyone been keeping you up to date?"

His boyfriend's expression darkened, "I heard they arrested Kisho."

Unconsciously, Konohamaru squeezed Inari's hand. He had never been betrayed like that, but it had to hurt. Still, he couldn't believe how stupid Inari's second-in-command had been. Betraying one's comrades was bad enough, but to have your payoff go into the same account that your paycheck was deposited in was pretty dumb. Last, he had heard was the man didn't seem to know anything of substance and some within the National Guard organization wanted to charge him with treason.

"Well, I have some news you might find amusing."

"Really, what?"

"Well you know how Mori used to show up on the site every few days?"

"Yeah," Inari said suspiciously.

"Well he wasn't just checking up on his workers. It turns out he was also picking up the Blood Pearls they had harvested. He walked off with them in his pockets and mailed them to his headquarters. If they had stolen the boat, they would've hardly gotten away with anything." Konohamaru started to chuckle halfway through, but Inari didn't join him.

"It's not that funny."

That shut him up and he scratched the back of his head nervously. He thought it was funny. Changing the subject, he added, "They said it was a good harvest. Better than they thought it would be. Apparently they have over five hundred pearls they can use for jewelry and about a hundred of those are the round type. It's going to be really good for your country."

"Well, that's good," Inari said halfheartedly. After a moment, he brought up the subject neither of them wanted to discuss, "So when are you going?"

"Tomorrow morning. A month is a long time to be away from home and who knows, I might have a baby brother or sister by now."

"I'm going to miss you," Inari said pulling on Konohamaru's hand so he would sit on the bed. "I was hoping we could have one more night together."

"I could see if they would let me spend the night here, but-"

Inari pulled his hand away and hit him playfully. "You know what I mean."

Konohamaru had known, but he hesitated before blurting out, "I could give you a blow job. I've never done it before, but there's a first time for everything."

That caused Inari to smile which caused Konohamaru to smile back at him. "Thanks, but no. The way my luck's been going lately, I would end up popping a stitch or two and then I'd have to explain what I was doing to the doctor."

They fell silent again and it made Konohamaru angry. Not at Inari or anything, but just at the situation. They both had known going in that their relationship wouldn't last, it had to end. Of course, knowing something and experiencing the same thing were different. Reluctantly, he said, "I can put in a request to be offered any missions that go to Wave. If they're short missions, no one will care if I'm late returning home by a few days."

"Yeah and I could look for a reason to go to Konoha again."

"We could write too. Naruto has you're address," Konohamaru trailed off as he suddenly realized something. "Hey, Inari, you never told anyone but Naruto and me about being gay, right?"

"That's right, why?"

"Why exactly did you ask me out? I mean, you had only told one person up till then so why?"

Inari shifted a little uneasy. "Well, I had been talking to Moegi and she had been talking about you a lot. Then she suggested I should ask you out. I thought it was weird, but I got the impression that she knew about me. You know what I mean."

Disparate facts started to coalesce in Konohamaru's mind. Moegi had been very insistent that he should ask Inari out. She had her faults, but she wasn't a fool. Now he learned that Inari thought she had known about him.

"I'm going to kill him."

"What? Who?" Inari said confused.

Konohamaru pulled himself out of his own thoughts and blinked down at Inari. "I think we were set up."

"How so?"

"I'll explain. I told you about Senichi, the guy who broke up with me right before I left, right?" He waited for Inari to nod to show he was following. "Well I don't think any of my friends liked him. Not that I can't see why, but I don't think Naruto was any different in his opinion."

"And when he heard you were coming here. He thought we might hook up?" Inari said a little skeptically.

Konohamaru grinned, "That's where Moegi comes in. I think she was his little agent. Pulling the strings, you know?" He shook his head, "I can't believe he would be so sneaky."

"Well," Inari said pulling him down, "I'm not going to complain about the results." They kissed and it was soft and gentle.

They both pulled away when they heard footsteps approaching and Inari's mother stepped back into the room, completely ignorant of what had just been happening.

Konohamaru stayed for another hour talking to the two of them. He thought that Inari's mother was nice and he had a hard time believing that she would have any trouble excepting her son's orientation, but it wasn't his place. He wasn't sure when he had come to that conclusion, but he thought it was the right one.

Before he left she extracted a promise from him that his team would stop by for breakfast before leaving the next day. He agreed easily enough never one to pass up free food. That night he slept at the Sea View Inn and wished he was sharing his bed instead of his room.

The next day they went to Inari's home and met his grandfather. It was a pleasant, if uneventful, breakfast. The highlight for Konohamaru, though, was when he and Inari were able to sneak off for a little kissing. He wouldn't have minded doing a little more, but the stitches were in a really bad spot and the fact that Inari was using a crutch to get around didn't help.

They left a little later than they had wanted to, but Konohamaru really didn't care. Once they had crossed over the Great Naruto Bridge he fell into step with Moegi. She seemed happy and he said as casually as possible, "So whose idea was it, yours or Naruto's?"

"Konohamaru, I don't know what you're talking about." She tried to say it with a straight face, but it was clearly all she could do not to smile.

"Well I know Naruto had to suggest Inari. Since he was the only one who knew, but I think you wanted to break me up with Senichi. Am I right?"

"Well we all wanted that. He was a real jerk to you. I was just the only one that had the guts to suggest doing something about it though."

"So you admit it," Konohamaru shouted, reaching out and trying to grab her.

She ran away and for a minute they chased each other before he finally pinned her against the tree laughing and kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks, but don't do it again, okay?"

"It was an once-in-a-lifetime thing," she said not very convincingly.

He let her go, grateful to have friends like her. They continued on their way and at some point Moegi and Udon grabbed the other's hand. This time, though, Konohamaru didn't care, he was busy thinking what he was going to say in his letter.


End file.
